Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols (real name Grace Nichols) is an American actress from Robbins, Illinois . She is most famous for portraying communications officer Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and the first six ''Star Trek'' movies. She also provided the voices for a number of other characters on the animated series. Early career and other roles Discovered by jazz legend Duke Ellington in her mid-teens, Nichols toured with both Ellington and Lionel Hampton as a lead singer and dancer. She broke into acting in the film Porgy and Bess (1959, with Sammy Davis, Jr., Loulie Jean Norman, and Brock Peters) and has had an acting career lasting over 45 years. Her first television role was on The Lieutenant (1964, which was written and produced by Gene Roddenberry and featured Gary Lockwood and Don Marshall). She has also made TV appearances as herself in It Takes Two (1969), Head of the Class (1988), and Weakest Link (2002); she also voiced animated versions of herself on The Simpsons (2004) and in two episodes of Futurama (2000, 2002). Her other film credits include: Made in Paris (1966, with Jack Perkins), the blaxploitation classic Truck Turner (1974, with Dick Miller), Mister Buddwing (1966, with Ken Lynch, Bart Conrad, and Charles Seel), The Supernaturals (1986, with LeVar Burton and Jessie Lawrence Ferguson), Disney's Snow Dogs (2002), and, most recently, Are We There Yet? (2005, with Jerry Hardin). Nichols co-produced and plays the title role in the yet-to-be-released Lady Magdalene's.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0783538/ She appeared as Ruana in two Tarzan films: Tarzan's Jungle Rebellion (1967, with fellow Star Trek actor Lloyd Haynes, William Marshall, and Jason Evers); and Tarzan's Deadly Silence (1970, with Robert Doqui). These were episodes from the Tarzan TV series edited together and released as films. She also appeared in the TV movies Gettin' Up Mornin' (1964, with Davis Roberts and Don Marshall) and William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1983, with Ted Sorel, Earl Boen, Barrie Ingham, Dan Mason, James Avery, and her original series co-star Walter Koenig). In 2006, Nichols returned to the role of Uhura in the fan film, Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. Legacy Her role as Uhura on Star Trek was one of the first times that an African-American actress portrayed a non-stereotypical role. Previously, most African-American female characters on American television were depicted as maids or housekeepers, and Nichols' role helped break that stereotype barrier. Years later, Whoopi Goldberg would tell Nichols about excitedly watching Uhura, as a child, and telling her mother "Come quick! Come quick! There's a black lady on TV, and she ain't no maid!" She participated with series star William Shatner in another breakthrough, with American "episodic" television's first interracial kiss between fictional characters, as seen in the original series episode "Plato's Stepchildren". (Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. had openly kissed months earlier in a musical-variety special broadcast by NBC on December 11, 1967, entitled Movin' With Nancy) http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/17/lklw.00.html She became the first African-American actress to place her handprints in front of Hollywood's Chinese Theatre, along with the rest of the Star Trek cast. In 1992, she earned her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Nichols is good friends with former NASA astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison. Dr. Jemison was a fan of the original Star Trek and was inspired by Nichols when she decided to become the first African-American female astronaut. During the late 1970s until 1987, Nichelle Nichols was employed by NASA, making recruitment and training films, and supervising astronaut recruits and hopefuls. Most of the recruits that she launched were women or minorities of different races and ethnicities. Personal Background Nichelle Nichols was considering leaving the Star Trek franchise after the first season. Fed up with the racist harassment, culminating with her learning that studio executives were withholding her fan mail, she submitted her resignation. She withdrew it when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. personally convinced her that her role was too important a cultural breakthrough to leave. She made both her first ( ) and last ( ) Star Trek appearances with DeForest Kelley. Her younger brother, Thomas Nichols, committed suicide 26 March 1997 with the Heaven's Gate cult members in Rancho Santa Fe, California near San Diego. Nichols's son is actor Kyle Johnson, who starred in the 1969 film, The Learning Tree. Appearances As Uhura * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ''Star Trek'' films: ** ** ** ** ** ** * (archive footage) As other characters * Uhura (mirror) in * Davison in * Dara in * Computer voice in * Anne Nored in * Alice in * Female Ursinoid Miner in * Briel in * Devna in * Kali in * Magen in * Delta Theta III entity in * Sarah April in * Karla Five in Other Media Nichols has provided voice work as Uhura for two Star Trek games: * Star Trek: 25th Anniversary * Star Trek: Judgment Rites Books Authored * Beyond Uhura * Saturn's Child * Saturna's Quest * The New Voyages 2 (anthology) ** "Surprise" External links * Uhura's Official Website * * * - pictures, links and trivia Nichols, Nichelle Nichols, Nichelle Nichols, Nichelle Nichols, Nichelle Nichols, Nichelle de:Nichelle Nichols es:Nichelle Nichols fr:Nichelle Nichols nl:Nichelle Nichols pl:Nichelle Nichols